Today in clearly-a-lie news: A 50-year-old woman in the U.K. claims that she has kept her youthful appearance by not smiling for the past 40ish years. No laughs with her gal pals. No joyful tears when her daughter was born. No flirtatious grins on dates. "I don't have wrinkles because I have trained myself to control my facial muscles," says Tess Christian. "Everyone asks if I've had Botox, but I haven't, and I know that it's thanks to the fact I haven't laughed or smiled since I was a teenager. My dedication has paid off; I don't have a single line on my face." Congrats?

The best beauty advice is often kind of amazingly duh. I recently had a duh moment when talking to Jeannette Graf, a clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, about how you should be putting on your eye cream.

What boosts collagen, softens skin, evens texture, and fades dark spots? A seven-letter ingredient that goes by the name of retinol! "The data is clear: People who regularly use retinoids simply age better than women who don't," says Ranella Hirsch, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine. Enough said! Here's what you need to know before getting started:

The most ingenious eye cream can’t begin to match the speed and power of lasers and energy devices, which smooth crow’s-feet, zap away dark circles, and come close to mimicking an eye lift. But they're not without risk. “These devices can be dangerous near the eyes," says Anne Chapas, a clinical instructor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Some require metal contact lenses for your eyeballs, multiple rounds on gentle settings, and experience on the part of your doctor.

Skin care in patch form is gaining popularity and fast. Just scroll through the Instagram feed of any “It” girl and you are sure to find at least one photo of her in a makeup chair rocking eye patches or a sheet mask. But after one application of Rodan + Fields’ new Acute Care Patches, we quickly realized they are unlike any patches we’ve tried before.

I've never been a particularly vain person, but if I were forced to name my best attribute, the answer would be easy: my green eyes. Probably due in large part to the fact that only 2 percent of the world’s population has them, they've always seemed rather special. Hey, I may be showing a few signs of aging—some fine lines here, some less-than-perfectly-taut skin there—but at least my green eyes will always be pretty. Right?

I know what you're thinking: This model in this picture is 16—she doesn't have lines around her eyes. And you're probably right. But that doesn't really matter, because for the rest of us, there are three tricks dermatologists and makeup artists use to minimize lines around the eyes—and the techniques are a little bizarre.

As if there weren't already enough things causing wrinkles while you're awake—smiling, frowning, sipping from a straw, probably breathing—it turns out even sleeping can be line-inducing. Those creases you wake up with after you've face-planted for a long night's rest? Not so harmless. "They are caused by the skin crunching against a pillowcase and breaking down collagen and elastic tissue," explains dermatologist Debra Jaliman, the author of Skin Rules. With time and repetition, that creates a permanent wrinkle. "When you are young, like in your 20s and 30s, you have good collagen and elastic tissue," says Jaliman. "But when you're older, it's a problem. The skin isn't as resilient."

This is (a tiny little part of) the current state of my desk. See, I've spent the last few weeks pouring through products for a big anti-aging story for our April issue, and now I'm absolutely drowning in wrinkle creams, antioxidant serums, and brightening treatments. (Not that I'm complaining! My skin has never been happier...or glowier.) It's a tough job, but someone has to do it, right?